A sensational incident of 17 children being held hostage in a studio on the pretext of audition for work in a web series in Mayanagari Mumbai came to light. The police rescued all the children and two others safely, while the accused Rohit Arya (50) died after being shot by the police. A total of 19 people were held hostage at RA Studio in Powai. After this incident, now former School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar has revealed that he had once given financial help to Rohit Arya.
Kesarkar said that Rohit Arya had been the project director in ‘Let’s Change Project’, an initiative of the state education department. Under this project, it had launched ‘Swachhta Monitor’ campaign, in which 64,000 schools and about 59 lakh students participated. Its objective was to spread awareness about cleanliness through children.
He said that Rohit Arya had claimed the outstanding amount from the department. He also met me regarding this and told me about his financial problems. After this, I helped him financially as a courtesy. However, he did not tell how much money was given to him.
Kesarkar also said that the department had raised objection regarding that initiative that it had collected money directly from the students through the website, for which clarification was sought from it. Kesarkar said that the department had given him an opportunity to present his side, but he did not choose the path of talks.
